Painting Kitchen Cabinets With Epoxy Paints

Rick

Painting Kitchen Cabinets With Epoxy Paints

 

The hardest part of perfection is charging for it

 

 

“Epoxy paint or epoxy-like paint products for cabinets is a very wise thing.”

 

This bold statement comes from Rick Anderson of Vancouver Kitchen Cabinet Painting, in Vancouver British Columbia and sums up his satisfaction with the little-understood product.

Epoxy’s main claim to fame is lon­gevity. It acts like a liquid plastic coat­ing on everything from transistor parts to kitchen cabinets, floors in theaters, shopping malls, garages, hospitals, and factories.

The major use of epoxy is to protect surfaces—typically floors—but also kitchen cabinets that see high traffic use daily. It can be sprayed or brushed and rolled on like paint. But, unlike latex or alkyd paint, which will last six months to a year, epoxy or paint with epoxy characteristics can last up to 10 years.

 

one gallon of scuff x paint from benjamin moore

Epoxy-like cabinet paint from Benjamin Moore

 

The epoxy paint we use for kitchen cabinets is a high-performance, one-component,  latex coating specifically engineered to deliver outstanding performance and protection for the toughest high-traffic areas in busy commercial spaces and kitchen cupboards in both residential and industrial settings. This breakthrough product offers superior durability and scuff-resistant properties than traditional 2-component coatings, pre-mixing, short pot-life and application difficulties related to similar products. This epoxy-like paint will retain its high-quality appearance much longer with minimal maintenance.

  • Proprietary scuff-resistance formula
  • Single-component Paint
  • Washable
  • Quick dry
  • Great touch-up
  • Spatter resistant
  • Easy application
  • Qualifies for LEED® v4 credit
  • CHPS certified
  • Contains anti-microbial additives that inhibit the growth of mold and mildew on the surface of the paint

 

The reputation of epoxy paint has come a long way over the years. Anderson says it use to be that manufacturers could get away with just a drop of epoxy in a gallon of alkyd paint to be able to market it to the consumer as an epoxy product.

 

No VOC

 

Most epoxies are not only chemically resistant but they have no VOCs to give off and are considered spark-proof. This makes epoxy ideal for chemical stor­age areas. They are also electrostatic dissipative floor coatings, meaning they resist static electric discharges, making them the floor coating of choice for computer chip manufacturing plants.

 

Costs

 

Epoxy costs can range from $40 per gallon to $200 per gallon, depending on the application. Scuff X for epoxy cabinet painting comes in around $90.00 a gallon. It can be tailored to almost any environmental application to prevent damage in extremely acidic or caustic industrial sites to the need for ultra-clean bio-hazard surfaces. Epoxies are made to be chemical resis­tant and can resist splashing of caustic materials or can be tailored for use inside a tank holding sulfuric acid.  It certainly can withstand anything you can throw at it in a kitchen setting. 

 

Chemistry

 

The geeky explanation for epoxy or polyepoxide is that it is “a thermos­detting epoxide polymer, which cures (polymerizes and crosslinks) when mixed with a catalyzing agent or hardener,” according to Wikipedia (a not-always ­reliable source for such information). All this means is that polymers chemi­cally mix with hardness to produce heat and a hard plastic coating on the surface you are painting.

 

“Epoxies are seamless and thus eas­ier to clean and they simply don’t allow germs and bacteria to breed,” says Rick Anderson

 

 

 

“Most of our products have steri-septic, anti-bacterial and anti-fun­gal agents built in for use in areas where cleanliness is a factor.”

 

 

Epoxy on concrete

 

Concrete is like a hard sponge and requires polyamines, an epoxy that flows smoothly like paint. Some epoxies, where corrosive resistance is the goal, are made for the steel. This is where the rare solvent polyarnide epoxy is used, but it will give off seriously toxic fumes.

 

Green epoxy

 

But VOC epoxies are the exception today, not the norm. Today’s epoxy is considered a “green product” since it is made with 100 per cent solids. It has no VOC elements. Compare that to paint which is typically 60 per cent solids and 40 per cent solvents, which causes shrinkage of the product as it dries by evaporation.

 

Since most epoxies used in commer­cial applications are now solvent-free, they can be used without masks in areas with ventilation. “The customer always gets his mon­ey’s worth when we put down an epoxy,” he says.

 

 

“It is a good-looking decorative product, clean, hard-wearing and it lasts for a decade or more. It can easily be recoated with some sanding. Paint on cement, on the other hand, will fail in months or little more than a year.”

 

 

Water based epoxy for kitchen cabinets

 

Water-based epoxy has one advan­tage over most epoxies, in that it can be used in damp areas, like mechanical rooms where there are typically lots of leaks. Since it is not as brittle as typical epoxies, water-based epoxy can be used on top of a rubber membrane base. It will expand and contract with the mem­brane and not break off. Water-based epoxies like Scuff X paint from Benjamin Moore for residential DIY application like kitchen cabinet painting are better than paint for hardness and longevity.

 

“They give up hardness and longev­ity for the convenience of more minutes in the pot and a three-hour working time,” Anderson says.

 

 

“It is false economy to save a few dollars per gal­lon for years on the floor. Why spend money on paint when you can go up a step or two and get a product that lasts for years?”

 

 

Drying time

 

Epoxy is like liquid Durabond (a plaster mix). Once the two parts of epoxy are mixed, the clock is ticking. There is no stopping it from drying, so it has to be used immediately. The material will only stay workable for 20 minutes in the can and 90 minutes if it is poured out on the floor. It will dry to the touch in a few hours and cure in seven days.

 

Good prep

 

 

Like most aspects of painting, preparation is the key in using epoxy, Anderson says.

 

The least preferred method of cleaning cement is wash­ing it with muriatic acid. It leaves an invisible barrier on the surface, much like silicone, grease or oil—all things that prevent adhesion of any paint to cement.

 

“Mechanical methods are preferred, either by shot blasting or by abrasive sanding of the surface to remove bar­riers. Once clean, you will have to tear the concrete apart to remove the epoxy. It sticks better to concrete that it even does to itself.” Anderson says.

 

To prove the point, according to Anderson most epoxies have a com­pressive strength of 9,425 psi, while concrete comes in at 3,600 psi. Epoxy is three times stronger than cement once dried.

 

Epoxy fillers

 

Epoxy fillers are also a two-part product, as the putty has to be used once mixed. Regular paint can be painted over an epoxy primer, but epoxies shouldn’t be used on top of paints of any kind. The heat from the chemical reaction will soften the paint. Since epoxy grips so tightly, what little shrinkage there is will pull the paint off the surface easily. However, epoxy is not recommended in damp areas or in direct sunlight. Humidity under the epoxy coating will have the same effect as it does on regular paint, forming a barrier under the surface and eventually causing the paint to let go. UV light will discolor epoxies, but will not otherwise damage it. It may not look pretty, but in areas where the surface must be protected outside, epoxy is still better than exte­rior paint.